The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

My journey got off to a bad start when a group of us were given the wrong directions to our section of the car deck on our ship. Speranza was right at the front of deck 4 and my late arrival held people up. How embarrassing, The drive from Plymouth…

If it were not for my worrying about Speranza’s wellbeing I might have enjoyed my Santander hotel. The bed was comfy, the shower was so good I’m thinking of having my own restyled to match it and the air conditioning eventually worked. They also provided a nice breakfast though such…

Breakfast in Bilbao was a noisy affair. Out on the hotel terrace, enjoying the cool air and views of the river, my ears were assailed by the horns of cars driving up and down the opposite bank with red and white balloons. I know those are the colours of Atletico…

I rose at a sensible hour; showered, dressed and loaded the car. My remote room left me out of the way of early-morning childcare so Babička's grandchildren were up, fed and dressed by I appeared. Young sir remembered my name from yesterday and politely asked if he could drive Speranza.…

This trip came about because Babička told me her plans to visit Czechia for an arts course and then rendezvous with her daughter in Aquitaine to meet her new granddaughter. I was looking for a road trip to celebrate passing 100,000 miles in Speranza. This is sadly not something that…

Today (Sunday) we ventured to the Dordogne to visit a favourite lunch spot of Babička and her late husband. It is a pub associated with an artisan brewery run by two Essex refugees from Brexit (according to the Daily Mail). The brewery is called Biere de la Bastide and the…

It is remarkable how cool it is (in the literal as well as the figurative sense) inside the 17th Century French home where I am fortunate to be a guest. Outside it’s been unpleasantly warm at times. Inside it’s crisply cool. The walls are made of thick stone and the…

We had a five to six hour run ahead of us from Barjac to Penne d’Agenais in 30º heat – mostly on autoroutes. By now we know the drill for driving without air con. Babička has even found a way I didn’t know was possible to open the tiny rear…

The Track My Tour app map is updated here. No waypoints will be added today as I’m having a break.  My Ferrari guys in London think the mecaniciens de Lorraine serviced the air-conditioning just fine, but that there’s a more basic problem. It blasted cold air when I took delivery…